(Sorry that this part is a bit awkwardly broken up. Should've ended the last part a little later)
She glanced over her shoulder, watching the others file out of the room. Her view was obscured as they stepped past a column and away from where the light could reach them.
The woman let go of her hand and glided over to an orange curtain. She pulled it back, revealing the entrance to another room. Amphitrite ducked inside.
She shielded her eyes, light pouring into her new surroundings through a floor-to-ceiling window. They had entered another circular room, much smaller than the one they'd just left. Curved shelves patterned the walls, filled with scrolls, jars containing herbs, and bottles of mysterious liquids.
"Sit," chimed the woman, gesturing to the center of the room where a large marble slab stood, directly in the sun, and a satin blanket was lazily draped across it.
Amphitrite did as she was told, climbing onto what she assumed was an examination table of sorts. The woman glided over, plucking a scroll and quill off one of the lower hanging shelves on her way over.
"Alright," she hummed, unfurling the parchment, "Tell me again, when did these markings appear?"
She straightened out her robes, "Right… right after I was struck by the lightning. At least, I think so." The woman looked at her expectantly, "I passed out after it happened and awoke like this."
"Was your hair that color before the strike?"
"No. It used to be brown. When I woke up, it was," she grimaced, pinching a strand and holding it before her eyes, "—Like this."
The woman wrote something down in her notes, "Any pain?"
"Yes," she breathed, "But… It's odd."
She shifted in her seat, "It…" she rubbed her arms, "It only happened once, one night. One moment I was fine, the next, they-" She paused, "The markings began to glow."
Her eyes widened, her quill freezing, "Come again?"
Amphitrite grimaced, "I know it sounds ridiculous, but they just started glowing bright gold and burning."
Her entire body had gone still. "And what caused this?"
She shook her head, "I—I don't know. And I don't know if it'll happen again, or when."
The woman slowly started to write, "How bad was this burning sensation?"
Amphitrite shuddered at the thought, "Like every inch of me was on fire. I couldn't move, couldn't think, it was… suffocating."
She closed her eyes, the distant echo of rain resurfacing in her memory. The gray clouds circling overhead morph into gnarled visages glaring down at her. Her skin on fire. Her body had ceased to listen to her brain, which was unable to think of anything but the pain.
Her eyes shot open, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. The woman was at her side, a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright," she whispered.
Amphitrite relaxed, lowering her shoulders. A flush of red played across her cheeks, her insides squirming at the weakness she had just displayed. It was shameful, pathetic. What would Atticus have said? What would Elias have thought of her?
"We'll do what we can," the woman picked at a strand of Amphitrite's hair, "If all else fails, at least you've been gifted with interesting hair." She joked.
She raised a brow, scrunching her nose in disgust at the bright blue strands, "Would you possibly be able to do something about that, too?"
The woman looked confused, "You don't like it? It's so eye-catching."
"It's obnoxious, is what it is," she groaned, glaring at her own hair. It didn't feel like hers anymore.
"Well, I think it looks nice," she hummed, "It reminds me of the ocean."
Amphitrite frowned, lowering her voice, "I don't like the ocean."
"No, it's cold, wet, and violent." Her face fell, realizing her possibly rude tone, "I'm sorry… just… thank you. Thank you for being willing to help."
The woman took her hand in hers, giving it a reassuring pat, "We'll certainly try."
Her heart jolted her awake, a loud tapping startling her awake. Amphitrite rubbed her eyes as she sat up. She stretched and yawned, kicking the blankets off her. It was a nice refresher, sleeping with an actual blanket instead of the ground.
After their discussion, the woman, whom she'd come to know as Nyn, had made arrangements for the three of them. It was unclear how long it would take for them to find a remedy for Amphitrite's condition.
The taps continued from behind her. She turned to the window. A meaty, arm-sized finger hovered before the windowsill.
Amphitrite smiled, shaking her head and rising from the bed. She approached the digit, patted it, and stuck her head out. Tymenio stood there, head just about even with the window. His eye lit up when she appeared, and his mouth awkwardly quirked into a toothy smile.
"Good morning," She chirped.
Instead of responding, the cyclops raised his other hand with something stuffed in his fist. His fingers unfurled. Amphitrite nearly gagged.
An entire, bloodied buck lay dead in his equally bloody palm. Her eyes widened. Tymenio brought his hand closer, looking at her expectantly.
"Ah… oh, t-thank you," she stuttered, gulping down the bile rising in her throat and managing to smile back, "T-though I think that's a little much for me to eat."
Tymenio's smile faltered, and then an idea appeared to come to him. He raised his other hand, and Amphitrite looked away as he started messing with the corpse. She heard a sickening rip, and a new shadow fell over her. He dangled one of the deer's dismembered legs in offering.
She gulped, hesitantly reaching out and wrapping her hands around the bottom half of the leg, "Thanks," she squeezed out as she brought it through the window, "I'll uh… meet you out there in a moment, okay?"
He bowed his head and ducked away from the window.
Amphitrite sighed, dangling the leg as far away from her as possible as she tiptoed away. To her dismay, she heard a pair of feet hurrying up the stone steps just outside.
"Amphitrite, are you awake?" Lycus appeared in the archway, "I wanted to- oh!" his eyes found her… and the leg.
She grimaced, "Don't ask."
Lycus, a few shades paler than before, cleared his throat and attempted to ignore what she was holding, "I uh… I came to let you know that there's breakfast in the assembly room. Though it uh… seems you already have been delivered a meal…"
She glanced at the hunk of meat, wrinkling her nose, "I don't think I have much of an appetite." She sighed, "Though I guess I probably should have something." She strode forward. As she passed him, Lycus took the leg from her.
"I'll… find something to do with this."
A wave of relief and gratitude washed over her. She nodded her head in thanks.
After managing to force down a few slices of bread and one or two grapes, Amphitrite left the open-air, circular room where most were gathered. They all sat in their circle on their cushions, surrounding a neat display of food on its own cloth and cushion.
As she stepped out of the sunlight, she could hear the distant murmurs from the robed figures. She tried to tune it out. Of course, they'd be talking about her. They'd have to if they planned to cure her. However, she couldn't help but feel as if they were whispering more than just that.
She headed out the main entrance and down the long flight of stairs. Tymenio sat waiting at the bottom, picking at the surrounding grass. His ankles had been sloppily wrapped with bandages. Apparently, the cyclops hadn't been very cooperative when he was approached to have his wounds dressed.
He looked up (and then down) as she approached. She beamed back at him, her eyes drifting down to the stains of blood still pooka-dotting his body, "Perhaps we should get you cleaned up. And get the rest of those scars dressed."
Tymenio grumbled, tilting his head in confusion.
Amphitrite peered out onto the horizon. The sea lay below. She shook her head. No, not again for a long time if she could help it, and the salt water might irritate any wounds further. She recalled that on their way here, she had spotted a small lake not far from here.
She nodded and turned to Tymenio. "Follow me."
The cyclops heaved himself onto his feet and stood over her like a living boulder, a boulder that rolled after her as she started down the hill.
The two hurried away from the temple and towards a batch of trees. Amphitrite led the way through them, wincing when she heard the snagging and breaking of branches as Tymenio forced his lumbering form through. In his wake, he left a clear path of destruction, with shrubbery flattened, branches broken off, and trees bent at awkward angles.
Amphitrite grimaced. She probably should have told him to be more careful. Well… too late now.
Thankfully, the body of water wasn't much farther, and the two soon emerged, stepping onto a grassy lake bank. Amphitrite stared out, hands on her hips. The water gleamed under the early afternoon sun and was perfectly still. She almost felt bad about breaking the serenity, but one look at Tymenio made her forget that feeling.
It wasn't just the blood, but years' worth of grime that clung to him. Smudges of dirt, dust, and all manner of things peppered his skin. Her heart sank at the idea of all that grime snipping into and causing his wounds to burn.
She approached the edge of the water and turned to Tymenio, "Go on."
His brow furrowed, and her backed away. He stared at the water with an air of suspicion and maybe even fear, as if something was lurking beneath the surface.
Amphitrite frowned. I can understand that fear, she thought.
She knelt and stuck her hand into the water, "It's alright," she cooed, swirling the water.
Tymenio relaxed a little but didn't move any closer. Amphitrite sighed, thinking for a moment. She stood up and gathered the hem of her robe, bunching the cloth together and tying it at the waist.
With her legs free, she turned and stepped into the lake. The submerged mud squelched between her toes as she clung for balance on the slippery ground. The slightly chilled water drew a sigh out of her.
"Come on," she beckoned Tymenio to follow, continuing further in, "It feels nice."
The cyclops gulped, shuffling his feet where he stood as we waited with bated breath for something to go wrong. Amphitrite, submerged up to her waist, picked up her feet and let herself float.
"I promise, everything's fine."
Tymenio stood frozen. Then, he inched closer, awkwardly shuffling towards the water. He stopped at the very edge and tentatively dipped his foot in. When nothing came up to bite off his toes, he brought his other foot in.
Amphitrite beamed, encouraging the cyclops to inch his way further into the comparably tiny body of water. Ripples and small waves washed over her as the lake made way for him. As he got closer, she kept paddling further out, leading him deeper in until the water reached his waist, and she was freely wading.
He stopped and looked around him, idly dipping his hands into the water and swirling it around. Amphitrite smirked, swimming closer and splashing the cyclops. He flinched as the water hit him and froze. She paused. Had she upset him?
A grin appeared on his face, and before she could swim away, he swept up the water around him and sent a wave her way. It bulled her over, the force shoving her under the water in a blizzard of bubbles.
She hurriedly swam for the surface. Her head breached, and she gasped for air. Swiping her now drenched hair, she rounded on Tymenio. His smile faltered, and he shrank away, looking ashamed.
Amphitrite giggled, which turned into an all-out laugh. She playfully splashed at him again and ducked underwater before he could retaliate. Beneath the surface, she heard his deep laugh followed by two loud splashes.
She swam away, looking over her shoulder. The cyclops' hands were blindly searching the water. She grinned, kicking for the surface.
Tymenio's back was to her when she breached, hunched over the water and still searching. Amphitrite whistled. He bristled and spun around. She dove back under.
As she kicked, there was a loud splash and something wrapped around her leg. With a jolt, it yanked her up and backwards. She gasped as she resurfaced, hanging upside down and still rising further from the water.
Amphitrite struggled as she was slowly spun around. Tymenio's face filled her vision, upside-down and smirking at her dangling form. She went limp, breathlessly laughing, "You win, you win. You can put me down now."
He snorted with laughter. She gasped as she was twisted right side up and slowly lowered. As he deposited her into the water, he sat down, so the water now came up to his shoulders.
"Alright, scrub all that grime off," she instructed, "Make sure to get places like behind your ears and whatnot."
Tymenio's hand rose from the water. He stared at it for a moment and then proceeded to stick it behind his ear.
Amphitrite nodded, satisfied as he began scrubbing himself down. She let her lower half float up and rested on her back, gazing up at the sky.
